A Place To Call Home - The World's Refugee Dilemma

Currently, more than 42 million people around the world are displaced by conflict or persecution - this is double Australia's population. Of these, 15.2 million are refugees.

With the number of refugees being granted settlement in Australia continuing to rise with 13,750 granted visas in 2010-11, refugee numbers are becoming all the more relevant for the Australian public. So, what effects do increasing numbers of refugees have on a community? Should we have a greater concern for women and children and the different issues they face? How can we balance refugee needs with the needs of Australians who have lived in these communities for generations? And should we even need to?

Each refugee has their own significant and unique story: why they left their previous homeland and what their ambitions are for starting a new life. How can we turn this into a positive and recognise the skills that refugees are bringing to communities? How can we solve the global dilemma of displaced people and refugees? And how can we take advantage of these to make the most of multiculturalism in regional Australia?

What are our responsibilities as Australian citizens towards refugees, both in our own country and outside it? And, what can we realistically do for those 42 million people who don't have a place to call home?